Young students gather for hoops fest in Port Hardy

OK, there was the athleticism, the dribbling, passing and shooting of the popular court sport. And the participants were certainly focussed on the games, which were exciting and competitive.

But as Eagleview teacher and organizer Sean Barfoot explained, this elementary school tournament was about much more than basketball.

“It’s about playing and loving the sport of basketball and building relationships between our school families,” said Barfoot, who also expressed his gratitude for PHSS for hosting

There were about 100 students from seven area schools represented at the tournament last week, which is in its sixth year at PHSS. The students are in grades 5-7.

Some schools have less than 50 students, some almost 300. That could really make for a competitive imbalance, so the players came with their school teams but didn’t necessarily play with their classmates.

“We changed it this year and mixed them up,” said Barfoot.

Over the six years of the tournament, Barfoot said the level of play has leaped.

The participating schools were A.J. Elliot of Sointula, Eagleview and Fort Rupert of Port Hardy, K’ak’ot’lats’i School of Quatsino, Sunset Elementary of Port McNeill, Seaview of Port Alice and the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw School.